Tips & Tricks to Help Keep Your Business and Personal Finances Separate

You’re a seller now with tons of things you do on a day-to-day basis. Researching and listing new items, updating listings, processing orders, packing, shipping…just to name a few. Most of us started this off as a hobby, but now have taken things to the next step. Now that it is a business, we really need to pay attention to things. Starting TODAY will make things so much easier come tax time, trust me!

I’ll be the first one to admit, I’m not very good at keeping track of things the way I should. I am still learning as I go – and do not pretend to be somekind of “guru” or know it all when it comes to this subject. I am just someone who enjoys trying to help others, and when I find useful information, products or services, I tend to share them when I know that someone can benefit by using them.

One of the first things I suggest is that you set up a business checking and/or savings account. It will save you a ton of headaches down the road. Be sure to look for one that offers no fees. We pay enough fees as it is! If you can, I would set your business account up at the same bank where you have your personal account, so that if you need to withdraw some of your funds for personal use, you can simply transfer it to the other account, instead of using the debit card linked to the account. If you do use that account for a personal use (on accident of course) you might scratching your head trying to remember later on which purchase was what. You may tell yourself you’re going to go home and make a note of this, but let’s be honest…it most likely won’t be done!

For my eBay sales everything goes into Paypal. I only use my Paypal Credit/Debit Card for business purchases. When I needed money for fun, bills, ect. I would simply do a bank transfer. Doing it this way made it easy for me. I also tell myself that this is only for business. To help the “urge” of wanting to spend. I also tell my team of online sellers to try not to log into their Paypal accounts that much. Out of sight, out of mind. (I share all kinds of cool tips and tricks with my team in our secret Facebook group. I just love being able to help so many people, many for the first time ever make money from home.)

When you are selling on Amazon, payments are directly deposited into bank account. Once you get your new business bank account set up, be sure to update your bank information there.

Having your business bank account set up will allow you to be able to grab those hot item buys when you need to. As you work your way up in this business, you should be saving as much profits as you can to reach the next step. I’m telling you..with each move up, THE MORE MONEY YOU MAKE!! And that’s what we are all here for, isn’t it?

Another thing that I have found very useful is Go Daddy Bookkeeping (also known as Outright). I purchased this last year when a close friend suggested it to me. Like I usually do, I got it, started it, then slacked off…then kicked myself for doing so! I finally challenged myself – took a day to focus on it and went at it. Man, I was really glad that I did and very impressed with the way it broke everything down. It has graphs, charts, and all! Who knew this could be so easy?! When tax time came around I had everything right infront of me. Hey, I love anything that makes my life easier. This program does just that. Plus, you can use the cost of this as a tax deduction. Say What?? Yes, you read that right! What I did was paid for the whole year at once to avoid monthly charges, just cause I hate them. (lol) PLUS I think I got a bit of a discount by doing this. Another win-win situation. I’m pretty sure they even give you a month free trial to test them out so click here to get yours started today!

I sure hope these tips help you like they have me. Please feel free to share any tips and/or tricks to Help Keep Your Business and Personal Finances Separate in the comment section below.

4 comments on “Tips & Tricks to Help Keep Your Business and Personal Finances Separate”

Very nice content, Nicole! I’m a BIG fan of keeping track of business & personal finances on a spread sheet for tax purposes. By making columns for expenditures that are deductible and keeping a running total, this makes it easy for my tax person to see my deductible expenses at a glance rather than having to go through a shoebox full of receipts. Thanks for sharing!! )Karen Shepan recently posted..Moving My Blog??

Shoebox full of receipts – YIKES! But it’s really more common than people think. I used to put all mine into envelopes & write on the outside either the months on them or the subject ie: office supplies, gas, parts, ect. Now I have taxbot and the Godaddy Business software to help save my rear! Gotta love that! Thanks for the “luv” Karen. It’s always appreciated ♥

This is an area I have issues with… Thanks for the reminder! Unless you’re analytical or like working with numbers (and I’m not) this is a very boring mundane task to keep up with but…it’s gotta be done.Jeff Beeman recently posted..How To Make A List On Face Book…